Class 1 EFB will be optional on very light jet by year-end
Eclipse Aviation plans to offer a Class 1 electronic flight bag (EFB) for its Eclipse 500 very light jet by year-end, with an upgrade to Class 2 capability as soon as possible. The Avio Flight Bag (AFB) is a Fujitsu tablet computer and application software that provides an interface mimicking the Avio integrated avionics and flight management system in the Eclipse cockpit.
System software designer Strategic Aeronautics describes the AFB as "the extension of Avio away from the aircraft", and says it will be optional equipment on all Eclipse 500s operating under Part 91 private, Part 91-K fractional or Part 135 commercial rules.
The Class 1 AFB will enable the crew to carry out weight-and-balance, performance and en-route planning wherever they are, and enter it on arrival at the aircraft. It will have performance and weight-and-balance calculators, static chart viewer, searchable airport directory, selected operational, regulatory and training materials, and a customer-specified document library.
The Class 2 version will allow pilots to upload the pre-planned data direct into the Avio cockpit system, and future versions will render the Eclipse 500 flightdeck paperless, says Strategic president and chief executive Jon Eric Paris. "Future versions will provide for geo-referenced en-route and approach charts, and connectivity with on-board Avio systems."
Source: Flight International
